cast bullet newbie

[hunterwinco]

The set up….a friend of mine recently sold his 357 and gave me a BUNCH of components that he didn’t need anymore. He gave me 500 Rainier 158g flat points and about 1,200 158 grain Meister bullets, RN. Nice friend huh! My questions are. Meister’s website shows these bullets at 14-16 brinnell. Are those considered soft, mildly hard, or rock hard? I have never shot any cast bullets before. I currently have a Taurus Tracker, 4 inch with the port barrel. Will those bullets drive me nuts by fouling my barrel and plugging my ports? Any tips? Any recommended loads? All help is appreciated!

 

[sqlbullet]

A 14-16 brinnell is moderately hard. Lead alloys used in casting range from 5 (pure lead) to about 33-35 (monotype).

Elmer Keith used a lead/tin alloy of about BHN 12 to develop his 'hot' 44 special loads that lead to the 44 magnum.

Now, as to leading your gun. This question has no easy answer as leading is not directly a result of too soft bullets.

Most often it is the result of poor fit, meaning undersize bullets. Leading will almost always occur if any gas can get past the bullet.

Next there is the issue of gun dimensions (cylinder throat, forcing cone, groove diameter). If any of these are out of spec, a properly sized bullet will become an improperly sized bullet. See above.

And, there is failure to match the peak pressure of the load to the lead hardness. Soft lead can be pushed plenty fast as long as pressures don't peak terribly high. Hard lead will lead the gun at modest velocities if an adequate pressure peak is not achieved.

I can't speak to ports, as I have no experience with them.

I would advise loading up some ammo and seeing what you get. Like all else in reloading it is about finding the right combination. With bullets that hard, I would look to faster powders to keep the pressure peak up.

 

[dogrunner]

Can't recommend strongly enough for you to check out castboolits.com...........THE place for info on the subject!

 

[EMC45]

+1 on castboolits.com There are some great guys over there! Especially that EMC45 fella.

 

[hunterwinco]

"moderately hard"

sqlbullet,
I use my 357 for woods carry here in Maine. I have heard people that say if you want to pack the most whallop for black bears etc...use a hard cast bullet with a stout load. Would your term moderately hard be what they are referring to? My stout loads are lil'gun based with 158 xtp. Would these Meister bullets be a good subsitute with an appropriate work up?

Thanks guys for the castboolits hint.

 

[sqlbullet]

The guys on castboolits can answer better than I. I am relatively new to the casting club. However, based on my reading, that should be hard enough for decent penetration. That is one of the things Keith was after with his bullet designs, and he was using a BHN of 12 as mentioned above.

I live in the Rockies, and load currently .401 175 gr LSWC under Blue Dot or AA#9 in 10mm for bear repellent. My alloy air-cools to a BHN of 11-12, but I drop them from the mold into water to get a very hard 27-30 bhn. I have not yet performed penetration tests...but they are accurate and should penetrate very well, even at a bhn of 12.

Once again, check in at cast boolits. My experience is limited to one caliber. I have devoured lots of literature, so I have 'book smarts' on the subject, but guys there will have actual experience too.

Edit: If you want them harder, heat them in the oven for one hour at 400°. Then remove them and immediately quench them in water. They should jump up to a bhn of 25 or so. Best to heat them on a pan with holes, cause they will be soft when they come out. Bumping will deform them. And, you will have to re-lube them with something like Lee Liquid Alox, as the lube will melt out.

 

[GP100man]

i shot castboolits thru a KingCobra that had been ported & it showered me with bits of lead , higher the pressure the more & warmer the bits.the lower pressure stuff would plug the ports to a certain point then a hunk would hit the underside of the shelter .
traded it even swap for a 4" heavy barelled GP100& never looked back.boolits were wheel weights running almost can`t thumbnail em .
i have a bhn tester now & ingots of same alloy & they run 13-14 bhn

GP100man

 

[hunterwinco]

GP100man...I love your description! "higher the pressure the more & warmer the bits." I had forgotten about that possibility! I LOVE the Tracker and wish they offered it without the porting. I almost didn't buy the gun because of the ports. At 6' 235 "I don't need no stinkin porting". I'd like to tig'em.

 

[GP100man]

new barrel , shortened barrel????
GP100 TIME

GP100man

 

[CSA 357]

Bullets? Or boolets? Speed has more to do with leading, keep them under 1000 fps

 

[sqlbullet]

I poked around a little in Glen Fryxwell's writings over at the LASC site. In this article, he gives some input.

So, for routine sixgunning applications what do we want from our cast bullet alloy? In the 800-1000 fps range we should probably keep the alloy at a BHN of 12 or below. From 1000-1400 fps, 12 to 16 is a very useful range of hardness. For velocities of 1400 to 1700 fps, this window slides up to 14 to 20. Above 1700, linotype at a BHN of 22 is an excellent choice.

This is assuming you are shooting a revolver. In rifles the guys at cast bullets bet much faster. This is due to more time to accelerate the bullet at a given pressure.